Les Amants du Pont-Neuf

Drama, Romance

Juliette Binoche	Michèle Stalens
Denis Lavant	Alex
Klaus-Michael Grüber	Hans
Edith Scob	La femme en voiture
Georges Aperghis	L'homme en voiture
Daniel Buain	Alex's vagrant friend
Marion Stalens	Marion
Chrichan Larsson	Julien
Paulette Berthonnier	Barge operator
Roger Berthonnier	Barge operator

Director	Leos Carax
Producer	Christian Fechner
Writer	Leos Carax

How can a movie be so ludicrous and so ecstatic at the same time? The Lovers on the Bridge stars Juliette Binoche as a street person (there, in a nutshell, is the ludicrous part) who was formerly an artist, but began to go blind and whose life fell apart as a result. She hooks up with a homeless street performer (Denis Lavant) who lives on a bridge in the middle of Paris that has been cordoned off for repairs. He falls madly in love with her; she can't bear the thought of being close to anyone. Both are more than a little irrational. But this banal scenario is merely the pretext for a series of lush and stunning images--including midnight water-skiing, fireworks displays, wandering through falling snow, burning posters in subway tunnels--and richly committed performances from the actors. It's not quite as overwhelming on video as it is on a movie screen, but there's such a gushing of emotional images that it's hard to resist the angst and yearning passion. Though the film dives into some cliches, it manages to avoid others; when Binoche's wealthy family starts looking for her, a frightened Lavant tries to keep her hidden away, and you really don't know whether their relationship can possibly survive. An unusual and sweeping film--and an example of the power of visual images to create a state of rapture. --Bret Fetzer